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Home Front: WoT
Man Charged Under Patriot Act for Laser
2005-01-05
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Federal authorities Tuesday used the Patriot Act to charge a man with pointing a laser beam at an airplane overhead and temporarily blinding the pilot and co-pilot. The FBI acknowledged the incident had no connection to terrorism but called David Banach's actions "foolhardy and negligent."
I'm torn. I want terrorism punished, but this isn't terrorism, the guy is a slack-jawed mope. We already have laws on the books for stoopidity.
Banach, 38, of Parsippany admitted to federal agents that he pointed the light beam at a jet and a helicopter over his home near Teterboro Airport last week, authorities said. Initially, he claimed his daughter aimed the device at the helicopter, they said.
What a great dad, letting his little angel take the fall for him.
He is the first person arrested after a recent rash of reports around the nation of laser beams hitting airplanes. Banach was charged only in connection with the jet. He was accused of interfering with the operator of a mass transportation vehicle and making false statements to the FBI, and was released on $100,000 bail. He could get up to 25 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000.

Banach's lawyer, Gina Mendola-Longarzo, said her client was simply using the hand-held device to look at stars with his daughter on the family's deck.
How exactly do you look at a star with a laser?
She said Banach bought the device on the Internet for $100 for his job testing fiber-optic cable. "He wasn't trying to harm any person, any aircraft or anything like that," she said.
"I wuz jus' bein' stoopid, yer Honor. Can I go now?"
The jet, a chartered Cessna Citation, was coming in for a landing last Wednesday with six people aboard when a green light beam struck the windshield three times at about 3,000 feet, according to court documents. The flash temporarily blinded both the pilot and co-pilot, but they were later able to land the plane safely, authorities said. "Not only was the safety of the pilot and passengers placed in jeopardy by Banach's actions, so were countless innocent civilians on the ground in this densely populated area," said Joseph Billy, agent in charge of the FBI's Newark bureau.

Then, on Friday, a helicopter carrying Port Authority detectives was hit by a laser beam as its crew surveyed the area to try to pinpoint the origin of the original beam.

According to the FBI, the Patriot Act does not describe helicopters as "mass transportation vehicles." As for why Banach was not charged with some other offense over the helicopter incident, Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, did not immediately return calls for comment. A few hours after the helicopter was hit by the laser, FBI agents canvassed Banach's neighborhood, trying to find the source of the beams.
Posted by:Steve White

#17  Uploading the other 5 albums now - which will prolly make the D/L's run slower - done in an hour or so. The links are horrific - and Dear friends is broken up into 29 tracks - yikes! The others go to the other extreme Trk1 - Side 1, lol!

Anyway, I'll post the links to the others on this thread tonight - so bookmark it for later, K?
Posted by: .com   2005-01-05 11:37:29 PM  

#16  Dang... so many years... I'd forgotten all about Gabby the Sacred Cowboy-- and how much fun it was playing Beat The Reaper.
Posted by: Dave D.   2005-01-05 11:32:14 PM  

#15  Some of their finest.

[WC Fields]

"It behooves me 'pon this 'istorical occasion to dedicate the the "Stinking Water National Indian Reservation and Cobalt Testing Range."

[/WC Fields]

Civilisation, ho!

[nuclear explosion]

NOTE: For those unfamiliar on the subject.

A pair of cobalt nuclear bombs, exploded at each of the earth's poles, would sterilize all human life upon the entire planet.
Posted by: Zenster   2005-01-05 11:28:17 PM  

#14  These are ripped, uploaded, and online for your listening pleasure, heh:
Temporarily Humbolt County
WC Fields Forever
Le Trente-Huit Cunegonde
Waiting for the Electrician
Posted by: .com   2005-01-05 11:14:00 PM  

#13  So, kick down, .com. Exactly which Firesign routine are you listening to?
Posted by: Zenster   2005-01-05 11:00:07 PM  

#12  ROFLMAO!!! Mixed with playing back the Firesign rips - it took me a second to realize that it wasn't in the skit I was listening to as I read your post, tu. Schizo today, lol!
Posted by: .com   2005-01-05 7:58:25 PM  

#11  I guess since they don't have Shithead Act, they had to go with what they had...
Posted by: tu3031   2005-01-05 7:44:46 PM  

#10  The "cops" are pissed that the fool targeted a FBI helicopter and charged him with the fastest thing they could think of: The Patriot Act. In the end, it won't stick (at least on appeal) but by then the searches will be complete and this idiot's life turned upside down (a good thing). In a perfect world we could just tie him to a post in the town square for a week with a sign on him that says "Don't let this happen to you"
Posted by: Dave   2005-01-05 9:56:12 AM  

#9  SPoD,

I completely agree with you. This is one stupid prosecuter looking for name recognition. This reminds me of the Dr. Hatfill debacle. This NOT a Patriot Act issue. There are already laws against this type of behavior. The Patriot Act is there to stop real terrorist/group activites. The Patriot Act is not there, to use as an excuse to raid strip bars looking for strippers dancing to close to the clients. This actally happened in Las Vegas about a year ago.

This is just another case of political correctness run-a-muck. It's always politically safe to arrest and ridicule the white man. But we MUST treat the Muslim terrorist with dignity, with 3 Eastern meals a day, with a Koran, etc. The real danger in this whole thing is that the MSM will use this to make a public propaganda of the Patriot Act and use it to attack Bush, more than they are already doing. The dangerous MSM will use this as added ammunition to attack conservative appointments of Attorney General's or judges. THE PATRIOT ACT SHOULD ONLY BE RESERVED FOR TRUE TERRORIST ACTIVITES, NOT FOR THE PROSECUTER'S POLITICAL GAIN. Again, there are already plenty of laws in the books for this type of behavior.
Posted by: Poison Reverse   2005-01-05 9:43:12 AM  

#8  A little fear mongering targeting the general public is not always a bad thing. Stomp on this bozo hard enough and you only have to stomp once, the rest of the clowns in the gallery will hear of it.

Same thing you did with Saddam, its called deterrencre, or however you spell that word. Overkill?!? of course it is. Necessary?!?! YES.
Posted by: Jimbo19   2005-01-05 9:20:09 AM  

#7  typical fear mongering by the MSM

Indeed. Journalists who don't have a clue as to what they're talking cast around for an easy angle to peddle: Today "terrorists", tomorrow "The Awful Incompetent Wicked and Machiavellian Bush Administration"
Posted by: lex   2005-01-05 8:57:00 AM  

#6  People are noticing them because the green lasers are much more visable than the red ones. People are pointing them at the sky for that very reason.
Please, if you're a terrorist launching shoulder-fired missiles at planes, you hardly need to laser rangefind them first. You just need a tone and a lock-on.
25 years and a half-mil for this joker is overkill.
The Sock Puppet is right. This is fear-mongering, plain and simple. We need to stop being scared of shadows.
Posted by: Scott   2005-01-05 8:45:43 AM  

#5  Actually we only know of 3 verified incidents total.
This is typical fear mongering by the MSM.
It's right up there with "USS Maine sunk by mine in Havana."
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2005-01-05 6:56:53 AM  

#4  Ok, SPoD. As long as the fools are prosecuted, I'll agree that applying the Patriot Act may well be overkill. But that there were suddenly so many incidents seems awfully suspicious to me, and I'm not sure all the incidents could be explained as nighttime stargazing.
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-01-05 6:53:05 AM  

#3  Oh it's certainly something that needs to be prosecuted. But under the patriot act? I don't think so. There are plenty of laws on the books that cover this stupidity. It's like killing flies with a shotgun. Using the Patriot act makes the feds look stuipid.

By the way these green lasers are used to point out astronomic features. I know since I just bought one for my astronomicly inclined son in law. They can also be used to "guide" a telescope on to a celestial object with mounts and switches made for the purpose. I plan on getting one of my own before some knee jerk congress critter thinks they need to be baned.

I am thinking this bozo was using a laser that was much more powerful than the 5 mw that is the limit by federal regulation of any laser that can be normaly pointed into the sky.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2005-01-05 5:55:58 AM  

#2  I disagree SPoD. This one is like drunk driving: stupidity that endangers others is an actionable offence, and must be punished, lest others feel permitted to do the same. Also, if the stupid can be intimidated into behaving, the evil who act with malice aforethought will not be able to hide in their ranks.
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-01-05 5:46:09 AM  

#1  The prosecuter who is making the "patriot act" charges needs to be tried for stupidity along with this bozo. So far they haven't charged one real terrorist with it as far as I can tell, just an assortment of losers.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2005-01-05 2:42:16 AM  

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